Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/249

Rh governed territory, since we hear of neither disorders on the part of the people nor of oppressive acts by the rulers. Both parties, in fact, waiting for a new governor and a supreme decision on their past acts, were on their good behavior, and disposed to coöperate in the preservation of order. It may be a matter of some interest to decide who was the governor, or gefe político, of California this year. It has been customary to put Pio Pico's name in the list between those of Victoria and Figueroa; but as I have already shown, he has no claim to the honor. For some twenty days he claimed the place, which he ought to have had under the plan of San Diego, and was recognized by the four or five members of the body that elected him; but after February 16th he made no claims and performed no acts. Nor did the diputacion make any claims in his behalf. He refused on the date named to accept the office, and was never asked again to do so. There was no Mexican law making him gefe político without regard to his own acts, or those of his associate vocales, by virtue of his position as senior vocal. Zamorano, on the other hand, never made pretensions to be gefe político; in fact, one of the articles of his plan expressly declared that no such officer existed.

Either there was a vacancy or Echeandía was the governor. Echeandía was declared geſe político provisional in the plan of November 29th and December 1st, until he should give up the office to a person named by the diputacion. That plan was successful, and on December 6th Victoria surrendered the office to him. The diputacion recognized his title, and nobody formally denied it till the 1st of February. Then Zamorano's junta declared the office to be vacant; but the plan of February 1st was never entirely successful, being accepted only in the north. After January 27th he ought, according to his own pledges, to have surrendered the office, but he did not do so. On February 12th the Los Angeles ayuntamiento,